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Employer Supported Volunteering – workplace agreement__________________________________________________________________________________________

Employee Volunteering Policy [Template]

A Memorandum of Understanding for Employers Wishing to Support their Local Community Emergency Services Volunteers

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Insert company logo above and leave this field

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1. IntroductionInsert company's name corporate philosophy includes social responsibility. It encourages and supports recognised community services such as volunteer emergency services. Insert company's name acknowledges the importance of volunteering to the community, its staff, and the organisation as a whole.

This policy presents a framework in which emergency services volunteering can be supported during working hours. It will provide a consistent approach to the management of employee volunteering and clarity around authorised volunteer activities and deployment.

This agreement involves the volunteer emergency services volunteers that are coordinated through the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES):

State Emergency Service (can also be activated by WA Police) Volunteer Marine Rescue Service (activated by WA Police) Volunteer Bushfire Service (legislatively linked to Local Government) Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service and Volunteer Fire and Emergency Service

Insert company's name also recognises that supporting volunteering is a choice it has made under the following arrangement and that this is also the employee’s personal choice. Both parties understand and accept that this may require ongoing commitment from the employee volunteer that may require time away from work.

Insert company's name will promote volunteering and encourage employees to volunteer their help and support. To support this commitment, Insert company's name will allow the employee, Insert employee's name, as a registered emergency services volunteer, leave of absence to assist the community with emergency preparation and response.

Objective of this agreement is to encourage:

A discussion between manager and employee volunteer about emergency services volunteering and the possibility for the employee to be released from work to carry out volunteer activities

An agreement around the release from work to attend an emergency and training An understanding about insurance, fatigue and injury management

Benefits of Employer Supported VolunteeringEmergency response volunteering provides multiple benefits for employees, employers, and the community.

Emergency response volunteering boosts staff employability by developing confidence, fitness, leadership, and decision-making skills. It also provides an opportunity for developing competency in operating machinery and tools, driving/navigation, health and safety, first aid, and emergency response.

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Supporting volunteers helps Insert company's name build and strengthen relationships with the local community and build a positive local image. It also helps to attract and retain high-performing employees, increases employees’ job satisfaction, and sets a positive example to other companies.

During an emergency, our community relies on the dedication and skills of emergency service volunteers. Therefore, by releasing emergency service volunteers, our community benefits from increased response capability and resilience.

Key Principles1. Requests to undertake volunteering in work time (including emergency response,

training and seasonal local community preparation activities) must be linked to a recognized emergency service

2. The employee volunteer must be a registered emergency services volunteer with a current volunteer identification number

3. Employees must obtain their manager’s approval before expecting to volunteer during work hours or when volunteering activities may impact their capacity to work

4. Requests to undertake volunteering will not be unreasonably refused but release/time off is always subject to the needs of the business

2. Conditions

Applying to Volunteer During Work HoursRequests to volunteer during work hours should be made using the ‘Employee Volunteering – Request Form’ (see Appendix 1).

Release for volunteering is subject to the needs of the business, location of the incident, likely amount of time required to attend and the severity of the incident.

The manager and employee need to consider a contingency work plan to accommodate any potential deployment, including any impacts on colleagues (e.g. as to ‘cover’ and/or when they can take leave).

Insert company's name is not legally obliged to grant leave for volunteering purposes. The circumstances under which an employee may be excused from the workplace are set out below.

3. Agreed Volunteering Allowance and Eligibility Criteria

Workplace Agreement This policy applies to Insert name of employee who is working for Insert company's name as an Insert occupation. Insert company's name agrees to permit Insert employee's name X days per annum to attend emergency services volunteer formal duties as a combination of:

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(tick boxes as appropriate)

☐ paid leave☐ unpaid leave☐ half-paid leave☐ time in lieu/flexitime

This agreement will expire Insert date at which time the agreement will be re-negotiated.

Insert employee's name is working:

(tick where appropriate)

☐ full time☐ part time☐ casual

☐ Insert company's name agrees to allow to Insert name of employee, to attend emergency response volunteer training and development (tick if appropriate).

Insert employee's name is a registered volunteer with the:

☐ Volunteer Marine Rescue Service Insert volunteer ID☐ State Emergency Services Insert volunteer ID☐ Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service Insert volunteer ID☐ Volunteer Bushfire Service Insert volunteer ID☐ Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services Insert volunteer ID

Volunteering will:


☐ be open☐ not be open to employees whilst they are on secondment.

Insert name of employee may attend emergency response and volunteer training and development as:


☐ paid leave Insert number of days☐ unpaid leave Insert number of days☐ half-paid leave Insert number of days☐ time in lieu Insert number of days

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Volunteering outside of the local community will


☐ be supported☐ not be supported to employees☐ be up to the manager’s discretion

To attend emergency incidents outside of the local area, volunteer employees will be granted the following leave:


☐ paid leave☐ unpaid leave☐ half-paid leave☐ time in lieu

The volunteer employee’s time off per year is pro-rata to their working hours. Volunteering hours are calculated in the same way as annual leave.

☐ The employee can use their volunteering time flexibly, which can be broken down into hours to fit the needs of the activity and the voluntary organisation. This will need to be discussed with the manager to ensure it fits both the employee’s and the team’s needs.

☐ Employees can also ‘top-up’ volunteering allowances with annual leave or unpaid leave if necessary. For example, a two-day organisation-wide leave allowance for an employee working for half of each week would mean they could volunteer for 7.6 hours. This is calculated the following way:

Representing 2 full days Half of standard week

15.2hrs38hrs

x 19hrs=7.6hoursof volunteering allowance

Standard full week equivalent

The work time that is spent as a volunteer is in addition to any other time allowed off for special duties such as Jury Duty (including attendance for jury selection).

4. Fatigue ManagementVolunteers may require additional time to rest and recover and manage their fatigue levels as a result of emergency services volunteering. Sleep is an important factor in managing fatigue and will influence the employee’s ability to work safely and make sound decisions.

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Time required to manage fatigue must be discussed with the manager as it may vary depending on the circumstances and the individual’s sleep requirements (see FAQs). Time absent to manage will be taken as:


☐ Paid leave☐ Time off in lieu/flex time.

Volunteering Leave Clause Volunteering leave is non - accumulative. Leave unused for volunteering is forfeit at

the end of each year (the manager will decide if this occurs against the financial or calendar year).

Any request for volunteering time made by an employee will include time required to travel to and from a volunteering activity.

No payments will be made by Insert company's name to employees for costs incurred by the employee partaking in the volunteering activity.

No payments will be made in lieu of time not taken or for personal time used to volunteer.

No payments will be made to employees for unused leave upon separation from employment.

All volunteering over and above the allowed leave must take place during the employee’s own personal time, or during unpaid leave in which case the usual procedures must be followed as per company policy.

Insert company's name understands that employees may be volunteering in their own time. This is welcome but is separate from this policy which solely concerns the provision of time off within working hours. Volunteers will not be reimbursed for any of their free time they may wish to devote to volunteering.

5. Applying for Release Although the employee and the employer have agreed on release terms for volunteering, the employee must request release from work (see Appendix 1) and seek approval by the manager to leave. This is to ensure that the work place is in a position to release an employee to volunteer. As stated above, an employee may not be released on each request due to capacity of the business to accommodate an employee’s release. A ‘release refusal’ does not prevent the employee from requesting subsequent time off to volunteer.

Note: Managers should regularly review with their teams to determine the minimum staff cover required to ensure service delivery and any priorities for time off.

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6. Volunteer Insurance Insert company's name is not responsible for organising insurance for the employee

volunteer during active volunteering. It is the responsibility of the employee volunteer to ensure they understand their insurance entitlements.

While an employee is undertaking authorised volunteer activities, insurance and public liability is the responsibility of the hazard management agency and/or Local Government depending on the volunteer emergency service. Volunteers are encouraged to discuss insurance with their captain, commander or unit manager to ensure they understand the insurance provided for them.

Insert company's name does not accept any insurance liability for their employee’s volunteering activities.

Insert company's name will not be liable for any damages or injuries that occur during the volunteering activity.

7. Volunteer Injury Management If a volunteer is injured while undertaking authorised volunteering activities, the

hazard management agency and/or Local Government will provide an injury management process to support the volunteer (see FAQs).

The hazard management agency and/or Local Government may seek advice from Insert company's name to determine the plausibility of supporting Insert employee's name to return to work on temporary light duties.

8. Requests to Volunteer

Approval of RequestsManagers should meet with the employee to discuss their request to apply for volunteering. Approval of time off will be subject to business exigencies. Insert company's name will endeavour to approve all requests to undertake volunteering; however there are instances where requests may be refused due to:

Detrimental impacts on the business needs of the employee’s department. Work within the business cannot be re-arranged to accommodate the employee’s

varied hours. The cost of the new arrangements would be too great.

Employees’ Responsibilities Employees should make their request for time off as soon as possible to the

manager.

Before volunteering, they should gain the manager’s approval7


Employees who commit to a volunteering activity are expected to attend and meet their commitment.

If the employee fails to attend the volunteering activity (e.g. stood-down due to a false alarm, that their attendance is not needed anymore, or the incident was managed quickly), their non-attendance will have to be explained to the manager. If non-attendance is due to sickness, it should be reported by the usual sickness absence notification. If no reason for the absence is provided, this will be treated as an unauthorised absence.

If requested, employees should provide written evidence (see Appendix 2) from the volunteer organisation to prove that they have volunteered.

Managers’ Responsibilities Managers should consider the effect of the request upon the service area, the

clients/customers, and the employee’s colleagues, in particular if more than one employee in a specific area works flexibly.

If the manager is unable to approve the request they must discuss their reasons with the employee.

Consideration should be given to amending the timings or dates to allow the activity to be approved.

A record of time off must be kept by the manager.

☐ Monitoring (tick if appropriate)

The promotion of volunteering opportunities and take up of employer-supported volunteering by employees will be monitored annually by the human resource or corporate management team.

☐ Reporting and Evaluation (tick if appropriate)

On completion of the volunteering activity, the employee will be asked to answer 3 short questions (see Appendix 3) and return them to their line manager to review the benefits of volunteering.

Appendix 1 Employee Volunteering – Request Form

Part 1 (to be completed by the employee)Name: Insert name of employee

Position: Insert position of employee

Department/Work Area: Insert company's name

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Details of the Volunteering ActivityName of the voluntary organisation: Insert name of volunteer service

Your volunteer role: Insert employee volunteer role

Please detail the voluntary activities/work involved: Insert volunteer activity

Please indicate where the voluntary activity will take place: Insert incident name if known and where you will be volunteering here

Insert company's name understands there may be some unpredictability. How much time-off are you requesting? Insert approximate time needed away from the work place here

Please detail any other special arrangements that apply:

Insert extra details here

I agree to notify my manager of any changes to this leave request at the earliest possible convenience.

Signature: Insert employee volunteer’s signature

Date: Insert date here

Please forward the completed Request Form to your manager

Part 2 (to be completed by the manager)

Manager’s checklist

Checklist Yes NoWill the absence significantly disrupt the running of the business? ☐ ☐

Will the absence adversely impact the team/colleagues? ☐ ☐

Can work be re-arranged to accommodate the employee’s varied hours? ☐ ☐

Are costs associated with these re-arrangements high? ☐ ☐9


ConditionsPlease detail any other conditions (if applicable):

Insert details here

Part 3 – Declaration (to be completed by employee and manager)I agree to the conditions for release / time off detailed above. I agree to the details provided in this form and requests for time off being used for monitoring purposes.

Signature:Insert employee volunteer’s signature

Signature: Insert employee managers signature

Date: Insert date Date: Insert date(Employee) (Manager)

The manager and employee should retain a copy of the form and forward the original document to Human Resources for inclusion in the employee’s personnel file.

Appendix 2

Evidence of Attendance

Name of volunteer

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Volunteer role on the day

Volunteer membership ID

Name of the officer in charge

Date of attendance

Time of attendance

Signature: Insert employee volunteer’s signature date(Employee volunteer)

Signature: Insert volunteer employee’s volunteer officer in charge’s signature here(Officer in charge)

Date: Insert date

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